Why Mario Balotelli will make Greame Souness eat his words by shining for Liverpool

Former Liverpool player and manager Greame Souness has warned the club against signing Mario Balotelli, describing the move as an ‘enormous gamble’.

AC Milan striker Balotelli is set to be named as the Reds’ ninth summer signing as Brendan Rodgers looks to replace Luis Suarez with another top striker.

The £16million move for the controversial forward is seen as a shrewd signing by many, but Souness believes it is a risk not worth taking.

Souness said: ‘It’s an enormous gamble by Rodgers, a gamble I don’t think he needs to take because he has a very strong group of players.

‘The harmony looks good but he may find, like every previous manager of the Italian, that he will spend more time talking about Balotelli, spending time with him and defending him, than he will the rest of the group put together.

’At times Balotelli doesn’t seem to enjoy football. Big teams can do without people who pick and choose when they will have a go. It’s a high-risk signing. I wouldn’t want him.’

His transfer business was disastrous for Liverpool so I don’t think the Balotelli deal will come anywhere close to being as risky as some of the former Reds manager’s deals.

£16m is not too expensive in today’s market for a player of Balotelli’s quality and if it doesn’t work out then Liverpool will be able to sell him for decent money because he is still relatively young.

I think Balotelli is out to prove a few people wrong and Souness is one of them.